Restaurant Forced to End Tradition of All Female
Servers

November 4, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced the
settlement of a sex discrimination class action lawsuit for
$1,025,000 against Lawry's Restaurants, Inc. for allegedly
failing to hire men into food server positions for
decades.

The EEOC said it found that the company, doing business
as Lawry’s the Prime Rib, Five Crowns, and Tam O’Shanter
Inn, had a policy barring men from being hired as servers
since 1938. While, Lawry’s claimed the policy was based on
tradition, the EEOC found the policy adversely affected a
class of men on the basis of sex, according to the
announcement.

Lawry’s agreed to change its “tradition” and actively
promote the hiring of men into server positions. The
three-year decree, pending court approval, requires Lawry’s
to provide monetary relief and develop a class fund in the
amount of $500,000; pay over $300,000 to institute an
advertising campaign regarding the hiring of food servers;
pay $225,000 for training all of its employees on
compliance with Title VII and related laws; and appoint an
equal employment opportunity officer to ensure compliance
with the decree, among other things.

The EEOC’s investigation and subsequent lawsuit was
initiated by a charge of discrimination filed in March
2003 by a male applicant in Las Vegas.